The Standing Room

Vingt Regards:VII. In Rotation: August 2007

Here's some background on In Rotation.

Whenever I used to sit down to lunch with Mlle L— back in the day, the first question was always, "What's on your CD player?" The answer didn't always have to be a brand new discovery or an "omg have u heard this?". As often as not, one of us had been revisiting something in the library and falling in love all over again. "Oh yeah," the other would say, "I haven't heard that in forever; I should listen to that again." And usually that would trigger something, and that would trigger something else, and next thing you know we're back at Tower Records poking around the bins.

Last week I ran into another friend in the lobby after an event, and she mentioned that the In Rotation column on the right was influencing her own listening from time to time. And suddenly I remembered these "What's on your CD player?" conversations with Mlle L—, and realized they were the subconscious reason I started these posts. So here's what was on my "CD player" a couple months ago, in case it's of interest.

Oh, and looking at the albums below reminds me: New Yorkers should hold March 6. Details to follow presently.

Nathan Gunn: American Anthem	Rufus Wainwright: Release the Stars	Mariza: Fado Curvo	Cornelius: Sensuous	So Percussion: Drumming

Wiener RFO, Davies: Glass Symph 5	Meredith Monk: Dolmen Music	Andy Bey: American Song	Wilco: Sky Blue Sky	Wilco: Being There

Tom Zé: Com Defeito de Fabricação	Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian	Jean-Yves Thibaudet: Ravel, L'Œuvre Pour Piano Seul	Radu Lupu: Brahms, Opp. 79, 117–119	Wilco: A Ghost Is Born

Wilco: Kicking Television - Live in Chicago	M.I.A.: Arular	Astor Piazzolla: Tango: Zero Hour

~~~~~~

Vingt Regards:
I. Strange Bedfellows
II. A New Era, Indeed
III. Hommage à Paolo Conte
IV. Hommage à S. Bar.
V. They Speak According to the Book
VI. Overheard in New York

In Rotation: July 2007

Here's background on In Rotation if you need it.

Treigle, Sills, Forrester, Wolff: Giulio Cesare	Régine Crespin: Italian Opera Arias	Régine Crespin: Nuits d'été, Shéhérazade	Susan Graham, Pierre-Laurent Aimard: Ives - Concord Sonata, Songs	Prince: Parade - Music from "Under the Cherry Moon"

Prince: Lovesexy	Tracey Thorn: Out of the Woods	Cornelius: Sensuous	Cornelius: Fantasma	Prince: Planet Earth

Prince: Emancipation	von Stade, Stratas, Hadley, Hubbard: Show Boat	Prince: 3121	Prince: Musicology	Sigur Rós: Ágætis Byrjun

Sigur Rós: Von Brigdi (Recycle Bin)	Sigur Rós: Von	Marvin Gaye: What's Going On

In Rotation: June 2007

Here's background on In Rotation if you need it.

After a lengthy absence caused entirely by laziness, In Rotation is back. I'm just going to start with last month, but because of my High Fidelity-like obsessive-compulsive disorder (kindred spirits, you know who you are) I'll still backpost the missing months as time allows. To get things rolling, here are Oct 06, Nov 06, and Dec 06.

As for June, this was the month when I listened to Company and realized, hey, I'm the same age as Bobby! Now, I first heard this show when I was, like, 19 and I remember thinking, these people are old. And sad. And bitter! It must be a terrible thing to be so old, I thought. And yet, look who's here... A matinee, a Pinter play, perhaps a piece of Mahler's? All of a sudden I felt like I had turned into Elaine Stritch, and promptly went home and made myself a Vodka Stinger.

To make things worse, a few days later I stood for Rosenkavalier (with Yankeediva DiDonato), staying downstairs for Acts I & II, and moving up to the balcony to hear the trio. Die Zeit, she ist indeed a sonderbar Ding because I was just standing there, leaning on the rail, enjoying the trio just fine... until the Marschallin turned to leave the room. All at once I realized, I'm also the same age as the Marschallin! And here she was, knowingly abandoning her (our!) youth in front of my eyes, physically leaving youth behind as something that no longer belongs to her, heading home to a house full of mirrors and clocks, which all remind her how she's getting on. Well, It made me sad. (And, truth be told, a little misty.) Time for another Vodka Stinger, I suppose. And one for Mahler.

Wächter, Sutherland, Schwarzkopf Don Giovanni [Highlights]	Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity	Hilliard Ensemble: J.S. Bach Motetten	Laura Veirs: Year of Meteors	Sérgio & Odair Assad Play Piazzolla

Thomas Quasthoff: Watch What Happens - The Jazz Album	Company (2006 Broadway Revival Cast)	The Books: The Lemon of Pink	Robbie Williams: The Ego Has Landed	The Best of the Staple Singers

Schwarzkopf, Stich-Randall, Ludwig/ HvK: Rosenkavalier	Reining, Novotna, Güden/ Szell: Rosenkavalier	Montague, Aler, Allen/ Gardiner: Iphigénie en Tauride	Imogen Heap: Speak for Yourself	Mavis Staples: We'll Never Turn Back

Bernadette Peters: Sondheim, Etc. - Live at Carnegie Hall	the bird & the bee	Tom Waits: Rain Dogs	Mariza: Concerto em Lisboa	Redhooker: The Future According to Yesterday

Daniel Binelli: Borges & Piazzolla - Tangos & Milongas

In Rotation: December 2006

Here's background on In Rotation if you need it.

Bajofondo Tango Club	Callas, Gedda/ Prêtre: Carmen (Bizet)	Petra Haden & Bill Frisell	Mary J. Blige: The Breakthrough	Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere

Kenny Garrett: Beyond the Wall	Dreamgirls: Music From The Motion Picture	David Tanenbaum: Serenado (Lou Harrison)	Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian	Toumani Diabate: Boulevard de l'Indépendance

John Adams: The Dharma at Big Sur, My Father Knew Charles Ives	Bajofondo Tango Club: Bajofondo Remixed	Gidon Kremer: El Tango	Pascal Rogé: Poulenc Piano Works	Kate and Anna McGarrigle: The McGarrigle Christmas Hour

Kronos Quartet, Wu Man: Ghost Opera (Tan Dun)	Tan Dun: Tea - A Mirror of Soul	Miles Davis: Kind of Blue	Bill Evans Trio: Sunday at the Village Vanguard	Brad Mehldau Trio: House on Hill

Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica: Tango Ballet (Piazzolla)	Bill Evans Trio: Waltz for Debby	Bill Evans: Alone	Brad Mehldau Trio: The Art of the Trio, Vol. 1	Bill Evans: Conversations with Myself

In Rotation: November 2006

Here's background on In Rotation if you need it.

Fred Hersch & Bill Frisell: Songs We Know	LHL, Chicago Chamber Musicians: Chamber Music (Harbison)	RIAS- Kammerchor: Messe (Martin)/ Cinq Rechants (Messiaen)	Choros, Chorinhos e Chorões	Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo

Patti LuPone Live! (Highlights)	Matmos: The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast	Trio Fontenay: Schubert Piano Trio in B-flat, op. 99	Beaux Arts Trio: Schubert Piano Trio in B-flat, op. 99	Prégardien, Fink, Hunt/ Jacobs: Il Ritorno D'Ulisse in Patria

The Legendary João Gilberto	Steve Reich: Three Tales	Kronos Quartet, Aki Takahashi: Piano and String Quartet (Feldman)	Alison Krauss & Union Station: Lonely Runs Both Ways	The Sugarcubes: Life's Too Good

Guleghina, Cura: Manon Lescaut (Puccini)	Stephen Vitiello & David Tronzo: Scratchy Monsters, Laughing Ghosts	Audra McDonald: Build a Bridge	Shawn Colvin: These Four Walls	Ali Farka Touré: Savane

The Best of Carlos Gardel	Kremerata Musica: María de Buenos Aires (Piazzolla)	Steve Reich: Remixed 2006

In Rotation: October 2006

Here's background on In Rotation if you need it.

Milnes, Sutherland, Pavarotti: Rigoletto [Highlights]	Audra McDonald: Build a Bridge	Marisa Monte: Universo ao Meu Redor	A Chorus Line (2006 Cast)	Steve Reich: Drumming

Gruberova, Bonney/ Harnoncourt: Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss)	Ingram Marshall: Savage Altars	Ingram Marshall: Fog Tropes, Gradual Requiem, Gambuh I	Ingram Marshall: Kingdom Come, Hymnodic Delays, Fog Tropes II	Thomas Quasthoff: Consider, My Soul

Marisa Monte: Infinito Particular	Robert Kyr: Violin Concerto Trilogy	The Anna Russell Album	Domingo, Stemme/ Pappano: Tristan und Isolde	Shawn Colvin: Fat City

Kurt Elling: This Time It's Love	The Books: Thought for Food	Pizzicato Five: Made in USA	Criswell, McDonald, Hampson/ Rattle: Wonderful Town	Steve Reich: You Are (Variations)

In Rotation: September 2006

The single most time-consuming activity of the past couple months was the inevitable yet long-delayed dumping of Windows Media Player and the ridiculous 30gb brick of an mp3 player (1lb per gb?) I've been schlepping around for the past three years. They've finally been replaced with iTunes and...

The Greek Anna Netrebko as Tosca

...an 80gb video iPod! All of my computer time has been spent ripping DVDs (thunder, thunder, Thundercats ho), adding album covers to the music library, and tackling the Herculean task of digitizing my Composer Music (as we call it here chez C—).

Looking at the list below, I'm reminded of one of the more interesting albums that arrived via The Mailing Room last year. Warp Records, which has been releasing excellent experimental electronic music albums for more than 15 years, put out a 2-CD set of the London Sinfonietta playing works by Ligeti, Cage, Nancarrow, Reich, Stockhausen and Varese—forefathers to some of Warp's artists—juxtaposed with acoustic arrangements of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. 

They're recordings of live performances, and I can't say that I'm all that thrilled with the sound, which is thinner and flatter than I would've liked. But I am thrilled with seeing this album stocked in the electronic music section at Amoeba. I don't give a rat's ass, as they say, about "crossover potential" or "expanding the classical music audience" per se or "reaching out to young listeners." What pleases me about this project is that it isn't an(other) embarrassingly ham-handed attempt by an orchestra to repackage themselves as "hip," hoping that 25-year-old concertgoers will suddenly emerge to fill the ranks of their Young Friends of the Orchestra rosters. Rather, this album is a thoughtful collection of avant-garde works compiled respectfully for thoughtful, adventurous listeners who may not be regularly engaged with composed music.

Warp set up a special page for the album, which is titled Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters.

Fernanda Porto: Giramundo	Raimundo Fagner & Zeca Baleiro: Daqui Pra La, De La Pra Ca	Hunt, Minter, Lane/ McGegan: Theodora (selections)	Chico Buarque: Os Primeiros Anos	Stan Getz & João Gilberto, feat. Tom Jobim: Getz/Gilberto

Giacinto Scelsi: Natura Renovatur	Peter Kopp: Dixit Dominus (Vivaldi)	The Sixteen: Ikon	Estonian Phil Chamber Choir/ Hillier: Baltic Voices 1	London Sinfonietta: Warp Works & Twentieth Century Masters

Hunt, Feldman, Minter/ McGegan: Clori, Tirsi e Fileno (Handel)	Steve Reich: Phases [Disc 2] - Different Trains, Tehillim, Eight Lines	Hunt, Feldman, Minter, Parker/ McGegan: Susanna - Highlights (Handel)	Orch Phil de Radio France/ Myung-Whun Chung: Daphnis et Chloé (Ravel)	Callas, di Stefano: Un Ballo in Maschera - Live, 1957 (Verdi)

Otto Klemperer: Brahms, Symph No. 4	Carlos Kleiber: Brahms, Symph No. 4

In Rotation: August 2006

After two years, it's time for an update to the In Rotation intro. Ever since TSR started in August 2004, a good number of the albums I've listened to have been logged in the In Rotation list to the left. I usually include only the records that have been played beginning to end; single tracks don't count, and the list is not comprehensive. Each month's listening is then compiled into a single post.

This past August was an unusual month for listening, because for 10 days straight I didn't listen to anything except the  St. Matthew Passion, in a desperate attempt to cram the whole thing into my brain for some unanticipated performances. My reference recording of choice was the McCreesh, because with one on a part all the counterpoint was refreshingly clearer than any of the choral recordings I had. And I have to say, having spent so much time hearing it done that way has made me a convert. The clarity and buoyancy is more effective, more affecting, and more satisfying.

Herbert: Scale	Matthew Herbert: Plat du Jour	Thomas Adès: Living Toys	Ton Koopman: Matthäus-Passion (Bach)	Paul McCreesh: St. Matthew Passion (Bach)

O Universo Musical de Baden Powell	Thomas Adès: Powder Her Face	Zeca Baleiro: Liricas	Os Cariocas: Sucessos + Raridades	Suba: São Paulo Confessions

Jair Rodrigues: Nova Bossa Por Jair Rodrigues	Zeca Baleiro: Baladas Do Asfalto	Smokey and Miho: Tempo De Amor - Songs by Baden Powell	Milton Nascimento: Travessia

In Rotation: July 2006

Click here for background on the In Rotation list.

NY Phil, Hendricks, Ludwig/ Bernstein: Symph No. 2, "Resurrection" (Mahler)	Meredith Monk: Volcano Songs	The Books: Thought for Food	Kronos Quartet: Winter Was Hard	Frank Sinatra: Swing and Dance with Frank Sinatra

Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney: Fancy Meeting You Here	Gorillaz: Demon Days	A Chorus Line (1975 Orig. Bway Cast)	Alarm Will Sound: Tehillim, The Desert Music (Reich)	A Chorus Line (Deutsche Original- aufnahme)

Siepi, Gueden, Della Casa, Danco, Poell/ Kleiber: Le Nozze di Figaro	Mandy Patinkin	West Side Story (1957 Original Broadway Cast)	Bill Evans Trio: Waltz for Debby	Bill Evans Trio: Sunday at the Village Vanguard

Singcircle: Stimmung (Stockhausen)

In Rotation: June 2006

Click here for background on the In Rotation list.

Temporarily focused on other things... If I owe you an email, I beg your patience. To my new, anonymous Albionic friend, muito obrigado—I wish I knew how to reach you. And to vf, what a delightful surprise—I'm honored that it occured to you that I might, you know, want one! To all others, have you listened to that Stratas Sings Weill record lately? It was the first thing I put on after coming out of  the ACT production of Happy End, just to get her Surabaya-Johnny back into my ears.

P.S. I cant for the life of me figure out why my Tasty Miscellany feed has suddenly started rejecting 90% of apostrophes. I havent become punctuationally illiterate overnight; believe me, its bothering me too. Ill try to get it fixed.

Edward Aldwell: The Well- Tempered Clavier, Book I	Edward Aldwell: The Well- Tempered Clavier, Book II	Glenn Gould: The Well- Tempered Clavier, Books I & II	Judy Garland: Judy at Carnegie Hall	Dreamgirls: In Concert

Thomas Hampson: Heine Lieder (Schumann)	Thomas Quasthoff: Schwanen- gesang, Vier Ernste Gesänge	Thomas Hampson: Kerner & Andersen Lieder (Schumann)	Fritz Wunderlich: Dichterliebe (Schumann)	Thomas Quasthoff: Dichterliebe (Schumann)

Thomas Hampson: Kindertoten- lieder, Rückert Lieder (Mahler)	György Ligeti: Chamber Concerto, Ramifications, SQ #2, Aventures, Lux aeterna	Teresa Stratas: Stratas Sings Weill	Frank Sinatra Sings Cole Porter	Jamie Lidell: Multiply Additions

Rene Kollo, Ute Lemper, Milva: The Threepenny Opera (Weill)	Kanye West: Late Registration	The Voice of Frank Sinatra	György Ligeti: Etudes, Books I & II	Vivica Genaux: Arias for Farinelli

Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P.	The Books: Lost and Safe	The Books: The Lemon of Pink